Shah Rukh will always be my idol: Priyanka Chopra (Interview)

NEW DELHI - Priyanka Chopra has thousands of fans, but who is the actress’s all-time idol? The man she admires most is adored by millions across the globe as well… who else but superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

“Shah Rukh Khan is my idol and has always been. He has been a favourite actor of course, but I really look up to him also as a person . Looking at where he came from and how he became who he is today, I find it extremely fascinating,” Priyanka told IANS in an interview.

“He started with theatre, did plays, got a break in TV - he turned from a regular college kid to a mega superstar… and all that completely on his own with no help from anybody in the film industry. I admire a lot about him and I think it’s just fantastic,” said the actress who has bagged the youth award icon for entertainment.

In the past, Priyanka has teamed up with Shah Rukh for Farhan Akhtar’s “Don” and did a cameo in a song with him in Farah Khan’s “Om Shanti Om” and also in “Billu”.

Priyanka and Hrithik Roshan bagged the youth icon awards in the entertainment field at the inaugural edition of the India Youth Icon Awards at an awards ceremony in Gurgaon Friday.

The actress is currently on cloud nine after getting rave reviews for essaying 12 roles in Ashutosh Gowariker’s “What’s Your Rashee?”, which also stars Hurman Baweja.

“It’s been great feedback so far. People are enjoying the film…I had an author-backed role which included playing 12 different characters - very difficult to do. And it feels fantastic to be encouraged and be told that I pulled it off well,” she said.

The 27-year-old actor said she was extremely nervous before the film’s release Friday.

“My biggest worry was - ‘Oh God! Will I ever be able to pull this off or not?’. Since most people who get to play multiple roles in a movie get it after a lot of experience, I was nervous. I have spent a short span to do roles as difficult as the one in ‘What’s Your Rashee’, but as an actor all I can say is that I do my work with as much honesty as possible and the rest is destiny,” she said.

If “What’s Your Rashee?” hits the jackpot at the box office, it will be her fourth consecutive hit in a row after “Fashion”, “Dostana” and “Kaminey”.

But she is unmoved. “Hits and flops are a part of the business, isn’t it?” she said.

Asked how she handles success at a young age, the former Miss World said: “I have always been grounded. I have an incredible passion for what I do (acting). I don’t know how to do anything else, I don’t want to do anything else and I love what I do. There’s nothing else that affects me.”

What about growing expectations from audiences and critics?

“It scares me when my films release. I wonder if people will like it or not. That for me is the most important thing. But at the same time I think: what’s the point of living a life without any expectations? You will just stagnate, become complacent - that’s not the kind of person I am. I like striving, I like things that challenge me; I take up difficult films and difficult roles to challenge myself,” Priyanka said.

“I like it when people say things like ‘Fashion’ was a female-centric movie and yet it was successful and that ‘Kaminey’ was an all-boys film, still my part was really appreciated, and ‘Dostana’ was majorly on gay guys, and it ended so well. I enjoy that - I like the fact that I can take up different scripts.

“It’s just that I like to take up challenges,” she added.

Priyanka’s next will see her paired with Uday Chopra in Yash Raj Films’ “Pyaar Impossible”, where she will play the beauty and the latter a geek.